Fellowship of Nine plus Two
by Blackout785
Summary: <html><head></head>Dark clouds loom over Middle Earth, and waris on the horizon. When Gandalf can no longer hesitate to take action, he cashes in an old favor, and ANBY Operatives Wolf and Cat are sent on what might be the single most challenging mission they've faced so far.</html>


**I'll mix up book and movie whichever suits the most.**

**Anything put like /this/ is in Japanese.**

**Also, if some quotes are wrong, that is because I live in Finland and as such my copy of Lord of the Rings is written in Finnish, and I'm far too lazy to go buy an English translation.**

**Kakashi is 16 and Tenzou is 15.**

"Now you must hurry, before it is too late. You will find the hobbits at Bree."

Gandalf the Grey, was giving final instructions to Aragorn, chieftain of the dunedain, before they set out for their own tasks.

"Where will you be during all of this? Surely, you do not intend for us to face the Nine by ourselves?"

"I will attempt to draw some of the Ringwraiths off of your trail, and, Valar willing, see if I can't secure us some allies."

"Of what kind? I thought any and all allies we have were accounted for."

"They are fierce warriors, and I have sent them a request that they lend us one of their finest. Normally, they are reluctant to involve themselves in the affairs of Middle-Earth, but they owe me much, and they are nothing if not honorable in paying their debts."

"That does not answer who they are," Aragorn continued

"I would be surprised if you knew of them, for their lands are far from here, south of even Harad, outside of Middle-Earth," the wizard responded. "They are secretive people, and I shall not break their trust in me by spreading their secrets without their knowledge."

"You are right, I've never heard of such people. But even then, why ask for only one warrior? If they owe you enough to send one of their finest, would they not owe you enough to send you many of their not-so-finest?"

"They are honorable people, but strict with their strange customs. If the holder of the debt asks for an exorbitant price in return, the debted can disregard it entirely. I have asked for as much as I dare without incurring their ire. Besides, an army of their warriors would be of no use, for they couldn't reach us in time. A single sword in the right position is worth more than hundred that never reach their destination."

"Well said. When will the answer arrive?"

"Soon. You, however, must focus your efforts in bringing the Hobbits safely to Rivendell. The aid may, or may not arrive in time or at all, and it will do no good for you to worry. I will give them the password once I meet them."

At this, Gandalf reached to his robes and pulled out a stone the size of a man's fist.

"Here, take this. It holds an enchantment that will allow our allies to find you once they arrive."

Aragorn took a long look at the stone. It was unnaturally smooth, meaning it had been crafted, but he saw no signs of tools being used. On one side, there were several markings and runes, that glowed slightly in the evening light.

"Very well, I best get going."

**Some time later.**

Kakashi Hatake, Shinobi of Konoha, Jounin, and the one of the youngest ANBU Captain ever at his current age of 16, was not happy. His current assignment had been far harder than he'd expected, and this was only the first part of the mission.

He and his subordinate Tenzou, had been assigned to an S-Ranked mission that would take them to the war-torn continent of Middle-Earth. The mission was a favor by Lord Third to an old friend his, that had, during a visit to Middle-Earth, saved his life. Five months ago a messenger-eagle had turned up in the Hokage's office, and soon after he ordered the two ANBU operatives to ready themselves for a long mission.

All Shinobi were taught the basics about Middle-earth, and the two of them had received extra knowledge as a preparation for what they would face there. The Elemental countries mostly left the denizens of Middle-Earth alone because they had their own problems, and they feared the Dark lord would turn his attention towards them if they did. The Hokage, however had decided that the debt they owed overruled previous norms, and he feared that should Sauron win the war he would be looking for new lands to conquer.

The journey from Konoha to the northern parts of Middle-Earth had been long and filled with obstacles. The constant distrust of travelers and foreigners got to their nerves but was nothing they hadn't dealt with before. The constant attacks by orcs who thought a lone pair of travelers on foot would be easy prey, though easily dealt with, slowed them down and forced them to waste their dwindling supply of weapons, but it was nothing they hadn't dealt with before. The lack of proper trees to jump also slowed them down, but was nothing they hadn't dealt with before. The blistering heat in the southern parts and biting cold in the northern lands irritated them, but was nothing they hadn't dealt with before. Constantly having to hide from patrols and the increased security during his trek through lands that, increasingly obviously, were preparing for war was nothing they hadn't dealt with before. Constantly being slowed by having to hunt their own food because they had run out of money long ago because the locals would charge extra from foreigners, or simply because the lands were so empty that there was nobody to provide food, was nothing they hadn't dealt with before. The confusion that ensued from the fact that the information they'd received from the Hokage was several decades out of date was nothing they hadn't dealt with before. Having to leave sleep to minimum and to drive themselves to exhaustion by running all day because the deadline for the meeting with the client was unrealistically optimistic, was nothing they hadn't dealt with before.

But all of these combined made for an infuriating and draining journey. But, they were ANBU, elite of the elite, and they would do their duty. At least they got plenty of exercise.

Their route had taken them through the lands of Harad between Mordor and Gondor where they narrowly avoided the fighting taking place there, to Minas Tirith, where they acquired more recent information about the rest of the journey. The two ANBU traveled just south of the White Mountains, opting to avoid Rohan after hearing some of the stories about the dark events that were taking place there. They then turned north, traveling along the Old South Road.

They had originally intended to go to the town of Bree to rest for a few days, but the time was short and they were forced to take a shortcut along the Bruinen river and travel through the wilderness.

Currently, they were close to the meeting point, near the forest named Trollshaws. The northern lands had a bit more vegetation that reminded Kakashi of home, but the trees were unsuited for jumping, and he and Tenzou had received many bruises from falling to the earth because they weren't used to the type of trees here.

It was early morning, and birds sang as the forest was slowly filled with light. He didn't mind the scenery, though he could admit it was rather breathtaking. He honestly preferred the forests of Fire Country, but he would go wherever his mission would take him.

They was two hours late, and he considered that to be quite an achievement considering if they hadn't pushed themselves to their limits, they would have been several months late. Still, that was no excuse.

They finally reached the clearing they were supposed to arrive in, and saw their client waiting for them. He matched the description they had been given perfectly, and if not for the fact that he knew the man was immortal, or at least didn't age, he'd have suspected a trap.

He knew this from the fact that Lord Second himself had described him this way, and Lord Third had confirmed that the man hadn't changed at all during the decades between his and his Sensei's visits at Middle-Earth. It was a bit curious that the Chakra amulet the Hokage had said he'd been supplied with wasn't with the man but he wasn't one to judge.

Kakashi changed back to his ANBU Captain attire, with his Wolf mask back over his face and black cloak over his shoulders. He had opted for a black one because it wasn't really necessary for him to be differentiated from his fellow operatives as Captain here, and unlike his normal white one it would blend in. He'd kept his uniform concealed in order to avoid suspicion, but now he was at his destination and it was time to act as ANBU.

Underneath, Kakashi was wearing his normal black T-shirt and pants, with plates of gray-white armor mounted in several positions. He had two fingerless gloves with series of interlocking armor plates covering his wrist and forearms, and two toolbelts that formed an X-shape over his chest. Kakashi had also replaced his usual sandals with boots because intel said that they would look more inconspicuous here, and they were more suited to the type of terrain they would be travelling here. He'd also opted to take his red scarf with him to cover his mask from curious onlookers.

All of this was covered his black cloak to give away as little information as possible to the client. Whilst they would technically under the man's command for the duration of the mission, Kakashi saw no need to give anything away.

He wore no headband of allegiance, so that if they were to be discovered, nobody could trace them to Konoha. He'd had plenty of practice in keeping his Sharingan shut at all times even without the headband to cover it, because he couldn't really keep the headband under the ANBU mask.

Kakashi was armed with a collection of kunai, shuriken and windmill shuriken, and several storage scrolls full of spares. He had his father's blade, the White Fang, reforged into a katana by the best smiths of Konoha after it had been broken during the battle for Kannabi Bridge.. It had been his last birthday gift from his Sensei, the Fourth Hokage, before his tragic death against the Nine-Tails, and he treasured it more than any other of his possessions.

He also a pouch filled with explosive tags and others Fuinjutsu seals that might prove useful.

Tenzou was wearing a dark green shirt and steel-grey flak jacket, along with his usual metal helmet, just with the Konoha symbol removed. He too was heavily armed under his cloak, but outwardly only difference to his Senpai was the lack of a sword and his Cat mask to Kakashi's Wolf.

Kakashi reached the tree that their client, Gandalf the Grey, was waiting, and signaled for Tenzou to stay back in case this was a trap. The wizard seemed agitated and a bit out of breath, like he'd sped through the whole of Northern Middle-earth to reach the meeting point. If the situation was as critical as his letter had claimed, he probably had.

Gandalf was waiting under the meeting point, silently cursing the Shinobi of Konoha for being so late. He was half tempted speed off to search for the hobbits and Aragorn, but he didn't dare leave in fear of missing the representative Hiruzen would send. He'd probably see that Gandalf wasn't there and consider the debt null.

The reply for his message had arrived a few days ago on a messenger hawk, and it held the time and location where they would meet.

Just as he was about to call for Shadowfax, a robed and masked man leapt from the tree he had been waiting next to, landing to the ground without so much as a sound. He guessed this was the man they'd sent and took a long look at him.

He was a bit short, but not overtly so, around 5'7". He wore a white porcelain mask that covered his face, adorned with markings in the likening of a wolf. Then he noticed something interesting; only one of the eyeslits showed a dark eye wholly focused on him. The other only showed blackness. The Shinobi also wore a black cloak that covered the rest of his body, except for his hands which were covered by armored fingerless gloves. On his back was a sword, and Gandalf didn't doubt that he held more weaponry hidden somewhere. Hiruzen, and Tobirama before him had told him of these, they were ANBU, elite enforcers of Konoha's will. He was a bit surprised that they'd send one of them to him, but in hindsight it made sense to send one of your most loyal men for a long and trying mission like this.

During the entire time he contemplated, the man stood there without moving an inch, and if he hadn't heard the ragged breathing of the obviously winded Shinobi, he could have sworn he was looking at a statue.

"You are obviously the man Hiruzen sent," Gandalf addressed the man. "Running a bit late, are we."

"There were complications along the journey. The southern lands were restless and I had to avoid drawing attention," the man replied, with a calm and measured tone. His voice was a bit high-pitched for a man but Gandalf wasn't one to judge.

"Very well. I am Gandalf the Grey. What is the verdict then? Will we receive your aid?" Gandalf asked, staring at the emotionless mask the man wore.

"Lord Third Hokage of Konohagakure recognizes the blood-debt he, and by extension the people of Konoha owes to you, Gandalf the Grey. Unfortunately our village is recovering from a recent war, and many of our finest perished. Thus we have sent the best we have available to you. The ANBU Operatives Kakashi Hatake and Tenzou will be placed under your command for the timeframe you deem necessary. Further details, as well as information about the Operatives is contained in a separate file." The man informed, obviously rehearsing a well practiced speech. "If you choose to accept our aid, our Operative is carrying a contract document for the legal purposes of this mission."

At this, the man produced a leather fileholder along with a large scroll full of writing in the Shinobi language. He gave them to him, in addition to a pen. Gandalf put the fileholder aside, glancing inside to find several documents and files. He opened the scroll, finding inside a copy of the speech the ANBU had given him, alongside several lines of legal statements, and at the bottom there were three lines for signing. Two of them were filled, with the "Provider" signed by 'Hiruzen Sarutobi' at the top, "Commanding officer" 'Kakashi Hatake' at the middle and the one on the bottom, marked "Client", left blank.

"You will need to sign on the bottom line," the ANBU said gesturing to the pen at the wizard's hand.

Gandalf did so, and the scroll glowed softly. It then disappeared in a puff of smoke, and was joined by two identical copies, which the ANBU adeptly grabbed from midair.

"One copy will remain with you and I will take the others to Konoha. One to the Archives and one for my personal use."

"Good. Would I be correct in assuming you are the Kakashi Hatake mentioned in the document?" Gandalf said.

"You would be correct, though as long as I wear this mask I am to be referred to as "Wolf""

"And where is this Tenzou fellow?"

Kakashi raised his hand in a signal, and another man around 5'3", dressed identically to him save for the lack of a sword, and the fact that his mask looked like a cat.

"This is Tenzou, codename Cat. You stated in your message that you had some sort of situation that you needed help with?"

"Yes. Things have gone bad faster than I expected, and we need to move fast," Gandalf said, his sense of urgency returning to him. "I don't have time to explain it in detail, but there's a specific artifact that we must prevent from falling into Mordor's hands. We have experienced delays in moving the artifact and now Sauron has sent his best soldiers for it. A friend of mine, Aragorn Son of Arathorn, is leading the holder of the artifact, named Frodo and his friends from their home in Shire to safety in Rivendell while we speak, but the Enemy's forces, the Nine Ringwraiths, attacked them and I have been trying to get them off of their trail. They should be moving around these parts but I have been unable to find them. I gave them the tracking amulet Hiruzen gave me on his last visit. I was hoping you might be able to find them quicker."

Gandalf saw as Kakashi's right eye disappeared too, as the man closed his eye in concentration.

"The amulet is some distance away, I'd say at the East road. It is moving rapidly towards East."

Gandalf did not miss the way the man only spoke about the amulet, careful not to assume that it was the right people still in possession of it. The information was alarming to say the least, and he continued.

"Hmmm," Gandalf responded, trying to conceal his worry. "At the speed they are moving at, could you reach them before they reach the ford of Bruinen? I suspect they may be chased as we speak."

Kakashi considered this for a moment and then responded; "If I left my traveling gear along with Tenzou here, I could make it in time. We placed a specific seal alongside the tracking one so that if need be, I could rapidly travel to the location of the amulet. It's one-use though."

"Do it. I shall take your comrade with me, my horse is waiting nearby. Go now, with haste! They might be in a fight of their lives right now. You must ensure that the artifact will reach Rivendell. If possible, you should also attempt to bring all of the people involved in one piece as well. "

"Wait. You told me that the artifact was being carried by its holder. How do I recognize them? And how will they recognize that I am an ally?"

"The holder is a hobbit, they look like about four feet tall humans. There are four of them in total." Gandalf responded. He gave Kakashi a slip of paper. "Recite this to them and they shall know you are to be trusted.

"You said something about Nine Ringwraiths too?"

"They are undead creatures of horrific power. They were once mortal, but they corrupted by Sauron. Be wary of them, for to go against all Nine of them is suicide. Now GO!"

The Shinobi deftly leapt to a nearby tree and grabbed two backpacks with several large pouches filled with weapons and scrolls. He tossed the packs to Cat and looked at Gandalf curiously.

"What would happen if these Wraiths get their hands on the artifact?"

Gandalf turned to him and said with a quiet, sad voice

"Then, Sauron returns to his full power, and we all die.

The Shinobi's eye widened a bit, and the he disappeared in a flicker of light.

"Hmmm. You Shinobi are full of surprises as always."

Kakashi was using the Flash technique as rapidly as he could, but the Hobbits and this Aragorn had a hefty lead on him and he was careful not to strain his Chakra reserves too much or he wouldn't be much of a use when he got there.

This particular technique was a more primitive version of Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God Technique. It allowed the user to rapidly move towards a marked location, but it was less Chakra effective, slower and took more of his reserves. In addition, each seal was hard to make and could only be activated for a short period of time before it was destroyed.

He was the only one in Konoha able to use it as Minato had been using it to train Kakashi so that he might later teach him the full Flying Thunder God Technique, but this was interrupted by his untimely death.

He sped through the forest, making his way across a mile's worth of travel every jump, only stopping to catch his breath. It had taken him about two hours to reach his target, and he estimated he had originally had about fifteen miles to his target, and this was his fourteenth, so the next one should take him close enough to complete his approach conventionally.

After flickering forward once more, appearing on top of a pine tree, Kakashi stopped to listen for anything out of the ordinary. He closed his eyes and let the sounds of nature come to him. He could hear no sounds of battle, so that meant they were okay, or the battle was already over. He filtered through the sounds, and found the sound of feet and hooves rapidly treading the earth.

As he closed in, he heard yelling and unnatural screams began to wail through the forest. He focused on that, and sped towards it with everything he had.

Glorfindel, Aragorn and the three hobbits charged towards the Ford of Bruinen, but they knew it was up to Frodo, Glorfindel's steed and perhaps the power of these lands itself that the fate of the Ring now rested. They would not be able to reach the ford in time to influence the outcome of the chase taking place there.

Ringwraiths, on their black steeds were scant meters behind the Elven steed, their hands reaching out for the hobbit seated on its back.

One of the Nine, their foul leader by the looks of it, turned his gaze upon the injured hobbit, and raised his hand.

Glorfindel felt the fell power course through the air, and his loyal horse Asfaloth, one that had gotten him through many obstacles and withstood without fear even the massive orc armies of past, reared on its hind legs and refused to go any further. The Elf lord let out a shout and charged towards the ford, but he knew that he would be too late to save the hobbit or the Ring.

And at that moment, he knew that Middle-Earth was doomed because he was too slow, and the Ring would be returned to its master and all would fall.

Suddenly, small, pointed daggers with small tags attached to their handles flew out of nowhere, and slammed to the ground in a line just between Frodo and the Nine. Just as the Ringwraiths steeds were about to pass the line of daggers, a voice rang out in a strange language;

"/Sealing art; Lotus wall formation!/"

In the fraction of a second, the tags on the daggers exploded into dust, and strange, white energy spread from them, forming a wall between Frodo and the Nine. It covered the entirety of the narrow passage, whilst the thick vegetation on both sides of the road prevented any forays around it.

With the Nine galloping at full speed, they could not slow down before ramming into the barrier. With a sound akin to a thunderclap, the wall flashed yellow, and the Wraiths, along with their horses were flung back, crashing into the ground.

The Fuinjutsu had done its job, and Kakashi leapt from the tree he'd been covering in. When he'd seen the predicament of the hobbit, undoubtedly Frodo, holder of the artifact, he'd Body-Flickered to the nearby tree, and sent four of his tagged kunai flying.

He guessed that the Elf, man and three hobbits were the escort and they had sent the artifact forward in a bid that it would escape from the wraiths. He'd heard rumor along his journey, that any who attempted to pass the Ford with evil intentions would be swept away by the magic of the Elves, and Kakashi couldn't come up with any other reason they would send the artifact forward without any protection. But, he wouldn't bet the success of his entire mission on some rumors, and he fully intended to stop the Wraith where they stood, and buy time for the horse to carry the artifact to safety. Though why they sent the hobbit along with it he had no idea, but that wasn't really important.

Kakashi hit the ground in front of the barrier, drawing his sword whilst turning towards it, and saw the Ringwraiths already getting up and starting to bang the barrier with their swords and send bolts of black magic at it. Already, small cracks were snaking their way through the glowing wall.

Kakashi glanced backwards, seeing the Elven horse crossing through the ford. He guessed whatever had stopped it must have ceased working when the Ringwraiths slammed into the barrier

Kakashi turned his attention back towards the wall, and had to duck rapidly to avoid a swing of a longsword from hitting him dead-on. The barrier was broken and the Ringwraiths were pouring through.

He decided that these opponents weren't to be trifled with, and activated his most powerful hand-to hand technique right at the start.

Opening his left eye to uncover the Sharingan, he used his right hand to gather a blazing, white Chakra at his hand.

"/Chidori!/"

He lunged toward the Wraiths and nearly did a double-take. The Ringwraiths were no longer simply empty black cloaks, but disgusting, shriveled, ghastly humanoids with ancient crowns on their heads. They gave off a white glow, and they seemed to be blur into the air.

Kakashi couldn't make out the edges of their form, so he decided to close the Sharingan, because he couldn't aim properly at the ghostly forms.

Kakashi continued his charge, and slammed his Chidori to the nearest one's chest… and went right through it, but any harm done to either of them. He hit the ground on the other side, and rolled back up as quickly as he could, dismissing his technique as he did. Another one swung it's sword, and Kakashi quickly parried with his sword, confirming that it was quite solid.

'Some sort of selective intangibility? This is going to get tricky,' he thought. Then he noticed the small, burnt hole in the cloak of the one he had went through, and a miniscule chink on the sword he'd parried just seconds ago, exactly where his sword had met it.

'So the Wraiths themselves are intangible, but their equipment is corporeal. I can work with that.'

Kakashi exchanged blows with the Nine for several seconds, longswords matched against his katana, but it was clear that whilst Kakashi was faster he was outmatched here. The Ringwraiths had far more experience in the art of the sword, and Kakashi was already getting tired from the amount of Chakra he'd expended in the high speed battle. In addition, the swords seemed resistant to the Chakra-channeling properties of the White Fang, so he opted to change his tactics.

"/Fire Release; Flame Burst!/"

It was a high D-rank technique, with little use beyond intimidation, showing off and distraction. However, Kakashi needed a distraction, and didn't want to waste chakra for a more powerful attack for such a task when a weaker one would do just fine.

He gathered Fire Chakra to his mouth, and released it through a narrow opening on his mask in a long stream, turning his head sideways to spread the flame in a horizontal line. The fire didn't actually inflict any damage, but the Ringwraiths still recoiled in fear, hissing and shrieking as they did.

"/Lightning Release; Beast Running Technique!/"

A charge of Lightning Chakra burst from his hand, before forming into a hound made of electricity. The hound leapt at the nearest Ringwraith, and with a horrific shriek, incinerated the whole creature, cloak and weapons all.

Another one charged at Kakashi, bringing its longsword down overhead. He parried it with his armored gauntlet, a chilling feeling running down his arm.

'Chidori might pass through them but this should work.'

"/Rasengan!/" He shouted, pushing the Ringwraiths sword back just enough to slam the technique into its chest.

As the swirling ball of chakra formed in his hand, Kakashi thought about the jutsu he was using. It looked like Rasengan, he'd created by using Rasengan he called it Rasengan, and it functioned much like Rasengan, close enough that anyone who hadn't used it himself wouldn't recognize the technique, but it wasn't Rasengan.

It was a technique based upon the Kekkei Genkai of the Hatake clan, the White Chakra. He had learned from the Family Scrolls that long ago, Hatake clan possessed the White Chakra Kekkei Genkai. It took the form second Chakra core, filled with the volatile White Chakra. To simplify the explanation, the White Chakra had two settings, active, and unlocked. As soon as the White chakra is drawn out of the Chakra core, it becomes active, and unless constantly contained, becomes unlocked, that detonates with great force. Containing the White Chakra requires constant concentration and attention, and as such near-perfect Chakra control to use. It could be used in conjunction with normal Chakra to create special techniques, where the explosive nature of the Chakra could be fully utilized.

The Bloodline Limit had, for some reason not been inherited to some of the children born in the clan, lying dormant within them. Due to some quirk of fate, those children had been the only survivors when the rest Hatakes were assasinated by a rival clan. It had remained dormant for four generations, the last user having been Kakashi's Great-great-grandfather, Otomo Hatake. It had resurfaced in Kakashi several months after Kakashi joined the ANBU. After several incidents and accidentally creating the technique he was using now, he had returned to the Hatake clan Mansion, and learned what he could of the White Chakra.

Kakashi had been seriously inclined to name the jutsu "White Chakra Bomb" and register his Kekkei Genkai, but had decided against it after coming across an example of how the Council dealt with such diminished bloodlines.

He'd overheard some of the plans they had for such evens, and didn't want to give them any excuses to do that again. It was much like the rumors that circulated the Shinobi ranks about the infamous "Clan Restoration Acts", where the last members of a clan were encouraged, and if that didn't work, forced to spread their bloodline around as much as possible, in order to rekindle the clan. The rumours did exaggerate quite a bit, not even the Council could move in such overt fashion, but Kakashi knew that his career as ANBU would be over, and the Elders would "subtly" hint that he should retire and have as many little Hatakes running around as possible. Plus the paperwork for registering a Bloodline Limit would have kept him out of any missions until he'd be old and frail.

It had become a sort of unspoken secret between him, the Hokage and several of the ANBU. Kakashi had resolved not to use it any more than necessary, and it wasn't like there were many who would be able to notice the difference between Rasengan and this Jutsu. Here, in Middle-Earth, however, nobody would care or notice. The only person who could possibly note the difference was Tenzou, and at this point the younger ANBU was probably only slightly less loyal to him than to the Hokage.

This technique was rather simple, a ball of the explosive White Chakra covered by a thin layer of normal Chakra. This normal Chakra was kept in constant movement, keeping the core from exploding. If the sphere made contact with a solid object, the rapidly swirling layer would be broken, and the White Chakra would burst towards that direction, exploding outwards and leaving the user unharmed.

As the swirling ball made contact, the Nazgul, expecting it to pass through just like Chidori before it, made no move to dodge. But unlike the cutting edge of Chidori, the chakra bomb exploded in swirling blast, making a small crater in the ground. When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of the Ringwraith, save for small bits of its metal gauntlets and boots.

At this, the Wraith Kakashi had seen stop the elf's horse screamed at him once more, and he felt the same power he'd felt back then gather. The Black Rider raised its hand, and a burst of black energy slammed into his right shoulder. Kakashi was knocked to the ground, losing grip on his sword.

He tried to get back up, but fell right back to the ground, clutching his head. The pain was immense, like someone was banging the insides of his head with a club, feeling like it might burst apart at any moment. Two of the Ringwraiths took hold of his shoulders, whilst another readied its blade to chop Kakashi's head off.

But before it could do so, one of the others looked across the ford, and let out a scream. The others also turned to look at the ford, and Kakashi turned to watch what had staved off his execution. The Elven horse had stopped in the middle of the ford, and Frodo was sitting straighter at the reins, one hand holding a short sword.

"Go back! Go back to Mordor and stop following me!"

Normally, Kakashi would have laughed at the hobbit for making such a ridiculous demand in the middle of the battle with nothing to back it up, but he refrained from doing so in fear of drawing attention back to himself. He could see from the way the hobbit held the sword that he was no swordsman, though he supposed the hobbit may just be delusional.

The Ringwraiths screamed at Frodo, but this time, it seemed to Kakashi like they were laughing, mocking the Hobbit. The Nine mounted their steeds once more, and started to cross the ford, Kakashi left lying there, apparently forgotten. His vision started to blur and he had trouble keeping his eyelids open.

"By Elbereth and Luthien The Fair," He heard through his stupor, "You shall have neither the Ring nor me!"

The last thing he heard before blacking out was the screams of the Ringwraiths and a sound that felt familiar somehow. It reminded him of his first mission in ANBU, few years ago when he and his squad apprehended a Missing-Nin from Kirigakure.

After that, darkness took him.


End file.
